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A Look Into 38 Studios' Game Over

People felt so sad when 38 Studios announced they laid off all employees on Thursday, May 24th, 2012. Just three days before then, they had announced Kingdoms of Amalur MMO - Project Copernicus set to release in June 2013. 38 Studios Game Designer "Grave" called Project Copernicus "an incredible world" with Gordish calling it the "most beautiful MMO world I've seen." On a sad, but poetic note; 469 years ago, May 24, 1543, was the day on which Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus died.

Since 2006, when it was established in Maynard as Green Monster Games, 38 Studios had grown to about 400 employees. Last year, Schilling moved its headquarters to Providence, after Rhode Island offered the company $75 million in loan guarantees. The strange financial happenings at 38 Studios kicked off this month when the company was having a bit of trouble making a $1.125 million loan payment to Rhode Island on the May 1. Then 38 Studios unveiled an undisclosed MMO as "Project Copernicus". While critics popping up in light of the company's woes claim that the studio just didn't have the kind of money it takes to realistically make a full-fledged, chart-topping MMO title. The studio finally managed to make the payment last week, it was unable to pay its employees and missed the payroll.